Hundred Carat Heart
by Sugar Spice Rush
Summary: She lost her fiancé in a jewel heist. He lost his future in the same heist and blames her for bringing him into that mess. Years later, he becomes a employee at the company that she's the rich and cold general manager general managerof to ruin her, but will he in turn be melted by her still-mourning heart?


**Hundred Carat Heart**

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><p><em>"From the act of the stealing it to being stolen by it..."<em>

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><p><strong>SSR: Today's my birthday! This is the first of two stories I'm publishing, but the other one will come later due to technical problems. First crime-themed story too!<strong>

**Shun: I'm not really sensing the crime element in this one.**

**SSR: Because you're the one doing the bad things!**

**Everyone: Ooohhh...**

**Shun: That's not what I meant.**

**SSR: Well, it's based on another Korean drama called Full Sun, or Beyond the Clouds. This one had 16 episodes and not 122 like Glass Mask, but I have other plans.**

**Shun: Way to go with that. And what about my alias?**

**Everyone: O_O**

**SSR:** Enough said.** I obviously don't own Bakugan or Full Sun.**

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

****Simple Complications****

...

...

It was all a misunderstanding. A **terrible** misunderstanding.

The first time he met her, she was happy and smiling. She took her time to set her welding equipment away to accept the flowers he delivered to her workroom.

_"__If these white roses had color instead, what color do you think they__'__d be?__"__ she asked after smelling the bundle._

He remembered the answer he told her, but it was all so long ago that he didn't want to think about it.

The second time he met her, she was upset and crying. Dressed in a strapless purple gown with no shoes on, she cried her heart out in the cold night at the harbor.

_"__Please save him, Mom. I__'__ve already lost you. I don__'__t want to lose him either.__"__ she murmured in between sobs._

He didn't know who she was talking about, but he remembered that feeling she harbored, something he'll never forget.

They would've met for a third time had he been given a chance to talk instead of being forcefully arrested and put in custody for something that he knew he didn't do. They would've met for a third time had she thought more about how the accident happened instead of only just her fiancé's critical condition. But everything changed that day when the doctor and judge each gave their statements.

She lost her fiancé forever.

He lost his future for life.

But will three years be enough to fix mistakes and heal those wounds?

...

...

"General Manager? GM Alice Gehabich?"

A redhead lifted her head and rubbed her eyes. "Oh shoot. Runo, what time is it?"

"Eleven-eighteen. Alice, I'm begging you. Please come back to work! And I **don****'****t **mean the work you have in your art workroom. I mean occupation work back at the company!"

"Runo, does it really matter? I can take the work I do at Hearts of Crystal back home or here to work on. Not like I'm procrastinating or purposely avoiding work."

"That's the problem! You're not avoiding work, but you're avoiding having to work in the company building. The new employees all think that **I****'****m** the general manager, not **you**."

"Runo, I'm pretty sure that misunderstanding is very easy to correct."

"Not when the company's 25th anniversary is coming up."

Alice's lips parted in response, but she was out of words. "Twenty-five years already? Time really does fly. I guess going back to the company building is absolutely inevitable. What did Father say?"

"His secretary sent a copy of an agenda over. Apparently, he's not as concerned about holding the party than he is about displaying some new piece of jewelry in some hall at the main building. Therefore, you're the only person who's the most capable of planning this stuff."

"Runo Misaki, I did **not** appoint you as section chief of Hearts of Crystal in Bayview for nothing!"

"I'm **only **the **section** chief, Alice. Hearts of Crystal started in Bayview, which means that it's been in business for twenty-five years. As general manager of the entire business enterprise, it's **your** duty to make sure this 25th anniversary party runs smoothly. This isn't just about the store. It's about everything."

"I understand what you mean." Alice took out a notepad and jotted down some random ideas. "Last year, he and I used to plan everything together. Now I don't know what to do."

Runo peered over the GM's shoulder and saw the scribbles. "You have a couple ideas down. Every anniversary just calls for a party, speeches, food, and jewelry to show off. Don't stress too much."

"I guess Father's working on getting the display rights for a new piece of jewelry. That's typical of him." The redhead stood up and pushed Runo out of the workroom much to the section chief's surprise. "How about if you and Dan do the planning while I work on getting that new piece of jewelry?"

"Alice, you know Dan and I would never get along."

"Are you two really not getting along, or are you upset that he's the new department head of design?"

"But-"

"Don't think that you heard it from me, but it would be a nice time to spend time together, don't you think?"

"Whatever you say, GM."

Alice waved the blunette away and walked back to her desk. She laid a hand on a jeweled photo frame on her desk and sighed. _It's been three years, Joe. You've been gone for three years. What am I supposed to do now?_

...

...

A young, raven-haired man exited the metal doors and saw a familiar face outside. "Mira!"

"Shun! How have you been?" The two bumped their fists before the girl led him to a mint-haired man. "Looks like you still kept up with your daily exercise. Hey Ace, guess who's **finally** out of prison?"

"I can **see** that, Mira." Ace bumped his fist with Shun and embraced the free man. "Three years, man. I've spent my last three years finding out who put you in prison, and I have results. I hope you've been productive."

"I learned Korean, but that's the only thing that came out of the three year stay. South Korean prisons aren't **that** bad. Some people were tough, but you know me. That's how I kept up with my exercise."

"Are you telling me you punched people for a living during your prison stay?!"

"It wasn't easy, you know! Ace, what are we doing now?"

"We're not going home just yet, Shun. First, we have to pay a visit to the mausoleum. You know what I'm talking about."

Shun nodded and got on the car with everyone else. After a quarter-hour ride, the car arrived at a beautifully decorated Oriental mausoleum. After parking the car, Ace led the two to the specific glass case where Shun's father's ashed were held. "I guess there was no way for you to take him back to Japan or America."

"I'm sorry, Shun." Mira apologized. "You were in custody, and Ace was busy cleaning up this mess. The hospital immediately ordered a cremation for him since there was no next-of-kin. I thought it'd be better that his remains stayed with you for the time being to protect you."

"Mira, don't. There's nothing for you to apologize about. **I** should be sorry for having you take care of me for three years without leaving. Besides, there's someone else who **really** should be sorry. Taking that money and my future in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs away. They've gone too far."

Suddenly, Ace took out a silver whistle attached to green thread and let it dangle. "This is for you. I know you'd want this back."

"Thanks. Honestly, I think it's better that Father's ashes stay in South Korea. Away from where he 'worked', if you know what I mean."

"I know. Mira, why don't you go back? I want to talk with Shun."

"Take as long as you need."

Ace and Shun walked to a nearby bridge and stopped in the middle. "Sorry for visiting you only **once **during your entire prison stay. At least Mira went for me. The stuff she gave you was all useful, right?"

"Anything that wasn't confiscated to be nicely returned to her, if that's what you mean. What are we doing now?"

From a backpack, Ace took out a stack of heavy books, topped off by a little green booklet. "All those thick books are your study materials for being a jeweler or at least an expert specialist. This booklet is your new passport."

"New passport?"

"New passport, new name, new identity. You want your revenge, right? Get studying, or else they won't even look at you."

"Thanks, but how long do we have before officially getting started?"

"Hearts of Crystal is having a 25th anniversary celebration, scheduled to be held in three weeks. Our plane tickets has our flight back to America in three days. Basically, you have a little over two days in South Korea left to do study by the books and work on your hands-on tasks. Then you have to enter Hearts of Crystal and make a good impression to get a job and-"

"Ace, I get it. Study, return, impress, and destroy."

"At this point, you have nothing to lose but time. As we all know, you've wasted a lot of that already."

"It wasn't my fault, so I'm getting back at the people who are really at fault." Shun quickly glanced at the jewelry books before putting them away.

"Aren't you going to look at the passport alias I gave you?" In response to Ace's question, Shun opened the passport to the name page and sighed. "Well?"

"Soo-hyun Kang..." Shun read. "Nice. How long **do** I have?"

"To accommodate my schedule, maybe six months tops."

"Then make it three."

...

...

"One hundred percent."

Shun gasped after hearing his score report. "Really, Spectra? I got perfect?"

The masked blond poked around the separated piles of jewels amidst the metallic sound of the broken fan. "You perfected this test, alright. Next time, I'm going to test you under a stopwatch with totally different mixture stones. Did you seriously throw those study books out before you came home to America?"

"One reason was to lighten my load on board. Another was that I remembered every single word already. Bring on the timed challenge."

"I'll let you rest and get for a snack before coming back."

After days of separating and distinguishing jewels under a stopwatch, Shun finally achieved another perfect score and broke his previous time records. "I'm getting better, am I?"

"I think it's about time that I take you out to a real jewelry store and see how they work."

"May I ask where Mira and Ace are?"

"They're busy handling paperwork for their made-up company 'SSR Gemstone'. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about them. Shall we go to a jewelry store now?"

"Maybe tomorrow. I want to keep practicing with timer this time, **and** synthetic plus multicolored gemstones, too."

"Timer, man-made jewels, and similar color? I'm glad your're challenging yourself. Based on your stopwatch times, I'll give you five minutes to start with. Ready, set, go!"

Even sorting out a variety of jewels with pressure under a timer was no obstacle for Shun. The next day, he and Spectra visited jewelry stores all over Bayview. On the same day, Spectra even scheduled a hands-on activity for Shun to personally take metal scraps and gemstones to forge into standard jewelry.

_This training is definitely more than I thought._

"What do you think, Shun? Do you think you're ready to take on Hearts of Crystal now?"

"Oh, I've **been** ready. Just wanted to make sure I knew what to do while I'm here. How about taking me to see their main building here in Bayview?"

"As you wish. You deserve a break after your hard work."

...

...

"Welcome back, General Manager!" greeted the two girls at the front desk.

Alice waved them hello and looked around the lobby. "Hi Chris. Hi Soon. Runo, I thought you said that **everyone **thought **you** were the general manager of Hearts of Crystal."

"You said that this misunderstanding would be very easily cleared."

"And now I want you to clear your misunderstandings with Dan so **everyone** can work together to hold a successful 25th anniversary celebration. Chris and Soon, how long have you two worked here?"

"Six months?"

"Almost a year."

"I see. This would be a good time for you two see how we hold our anniversary celebrations. Runo, what about the newly hired girls?"

"Work hours haven't started. Chris and Soon are always here early. What's the matter, Alice?"

"Nothing. Remember to teach the new girls about store etiquette." Suddenly, the back door opened, followed by a few girls in black suited skirt uniforms. "There they are now. I saw a delivery truck park outside. I'll be back."

"Make it quick!" After Alice left through the back door, Runo walked up to the front and said, "You two might want to help GM outside."

"Oh okay..."

The section chief went back to the jewelry cases in the front and had the girls stand on both sides. "Okay, ladies. Here's one of infinity of your daily etiquette lessons. Stand straight."

"Stand straight!"

"Smile warmly."

"Smile warmly!"

"Speak pleasantly."

"Speak pleasantly!"

Suddenly, the front door opened, and a raven-haired man walked in. "I'm sorry, sir, but the store isn't open yet."

"I'm here to see your general manager."

"Please leave the building! You're not allowed-" The back door opened, and Chris and Soon came in with small packages in their hands. "Just put them somewhere. Everyone, please leave the lobby. Now sir, what do you want?"

"I want to work here."

Runo blinked and set her clipboard down. "What?! You can't just say that at random. Besides, neither GM nor I are-"

"I want to apply for the trade liaison position."

"Sir! I don't understand what's going on, but you're being."

"Absurd." After Chris and Soon quickly ran upstairs, Alice placed the box in her hands on the ground and kicked it aside. She crossed her arms and approached the unexpected guest and stared him down. "Trade liaison? No chance."

_So she's general manager,_ Shun thought. "Miss Gehabich, how can you be so sure that I can't take the job if you haven't-"

Out of nowhere, Alice took out a cane and pointed it just an inch from Shun's chest. "Didn't you hear what Miss Misaki say? The store's not open, so you're not welcome in here."

"**Yet**." The grandfather clock outside rang eight times for eight o'clock. "**Now** the store's open, but I'll talk to you all next time."

Watching the guest leave the front doors, the redhead tossed the cane aside and shook her head. "He did not just say trade liaison, did he?"

"He **did**." Runo answered. "Alice, I understand how you feel, but-"

"If he won't show some manners, neither will I."

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><p><strong>SSR: At some point, I said that Alice would assault someone with a cane...so here you go.<strong>

**Alice: That was the worst thing I've ever done.**

**Shun: I'm sure you've done worse.**

**Alice: That too.**

**Shun: And my weird alias.**

**SSR: Don't drag me into this on my birthday! T****he company was supposed to be called Hearts on Fire, but it wouldn't match the title, summary, or tagline.**

**Runo: Hearts of Crystal sounds fine, as long as there are more gemstones than just diamonds.**

**SSR: I definitely have other plans, but leave a review as a birthday present though!**


End file.
